Latest news with #AideeWalker
Scoop
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Scoop
Kiwi Screen Community And Auckland Locals Take 18,000 Steps To Honour Gaza's Lost Children
Press Release – Matter On Sunday June 8, Aucklanders will gather at Parrs Park in Glen Eden at 8am for '18,000 Steps for Gaza' —a walk/run event dedicated to honouring the 18,000 children estimated to have lost their lives in the ongoing conflict in Gaza. Led by a collective of filmmakers, actors, sportspeople, and local community members, the initiative invites participants to complete 18,000 steps—each one symbolising a child's life lost. The Givealittle page has already raised $5,000 toward its $18,000 goal for ReliefAid, a New Zealand-based humanitarian organisation providing critical support on the ground in Gaza. A number of well-known New Zealanders have already pledged to participate, including actors Aidee Walker (Outrageous Fortune), Michelle Langstone (Westside), Dave Van Horn (Avatar), Dominic Ona Ariki (One Lane Bridge), Fleur Saville (Shortland Street), and Dimitrius Koloamatangi (Red, White & Brass) (remotely), as well as league legend Ruben Wiki, rapper Diggy Dupe, and filmmaker Nua Finau (Panthers). More names are expected to be confirmed in the coming days. '18,000 is a crazy number,' says organiser and filmmaker Tom Hern (The Dark Horse). 'When I sat with that, it really opened my heart. The average primary school roll in Aotearoa is around 160 students. That means 18,000 children is the equivalent of more than 100 schools of children being wiped out. Each one of those kids is someone's son or daughter, or grandchild. I can only imagine the pure heartbreak for the families—if they survived themselves. 'This fundraiser, for me, isn't really political. For many, that's where their energy goes, and I respect that. But for me, this is simply a human response. As a father—and just as a person with any conscience—I couldn't keep watching this extreme suffering and do nothing. So I reached out to my friends and asked for their help to raise crucial funds to support these innocent lives. It's a small contribution. But it's something.' Event Details What: 18,000 Steps for Gaza (estimated 13.5km) When: Sunday, June 8, 2025 — 7:30 AM Briefing, 8:00 AM Start Where: Parrs Park, Glen Eden (Meet at the Playground) Who: Open to all — run, walk, or move in your own way. No registration required. Donate: 18,000 Steps for Gaza Givealittle Participants are encouraged to bring a fitness tracker or phone to track their steps. For those without, steps will be estimated per lap. A hydration station will be available on-site.
Scoop
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Scoop
Kiwi Screen Community And Auckland Locals Take 18,000 Steps To Honour Gaza's Lost Children
Press Release: On Sunday June 8, Aucklanders will gather at Parrs Park in Glen Eden at 8am for '18,000 Steps for Gaza' —a walk/run event dedicated to honouring the 18,000 children estimated to have lost their lives in the ongoing conflict in Gaza. Led by a collective of filmmakers, actors, sportspeople, and local community members, the initiative invites participants to complete 18,000 steps—each one symbolising a child's life lost. The Givealittle page has already raised $5,000 toward its $18,000 goal for ReliefAid, a New Zealand-based humanitarian organisation providing critical support on the ground in Gaza. A number of well-known New Zealanders have already pledged to participate, including actors Aidee Walker (Outrageous Fortune), Michelle Langstone (Westside), Dave Van Horn (Avatar), Dominic Ona Ariki (One Lane Bridge), Fleur Saville (Shortland Street), and Dimitrius Koloamatangi (Red, White & Brass) (remotely), as well as league legend Ruben Wiki, rapper Diggy Dupe, and filmmaker Nua Finau (Panthers). More names are expected to be confirmed in the coming days. '18,000 is a crazy number,' says organiser and filmmaker Tom Hern (The Dark Horse). 'When I sat with that, it really opened my heart. The average primary school roll in Aotearoa is around 160 students. That means 18,000 children is the equivalent of more than 100 schools of children being wiped out. Each one of those kids is someone's son or daughter, or grandchild. I can only imagine the pure heartbreak for the families—if they survived themselves. 'This fundraiser, for me, isn't really political. For many, that's where their energy goes, and I respect that. But for me, this is simply a human response. As a father—and just as a person with any conscience—I couldn't keep watching this extreme suffering and do nothing. So I reached out to my friends and asked for their help to raise crucial funds to support these innocent lives. It's a small contribution. But it's something.' Event Details What: 18,000 Steps for Gaza (estimated 13.5km) When: Sunday, June 8, 2025 — 7:30 AM Briefing, 8:00 AM Start Where: Parrs Park, Glen Eden (Meet at the Playground) Who: Open to all — run, walk, or move in your own way. No registration required. Donate: 18,000 Steps for Gaza Givealittle Participants are encouraged to bring a fitness tracker or phone to track their steps. For those without, steps will be estimated per lap. A hydration station will be available on-site.
Boston Globe
20-04-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Descendants of slaves, owners call for reparations at the UN
'This was a historic event,' said Trevelyan, who moderated the meeting on the sidelines of the UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent's weeklong session. From about the year 1500, millions of West Africans were sent to work mainly on plantations in the Caribbean and Advertisement Few nations have apologized for their role in slavery, and reparations have been the subject of much debate. The Geneva-based Human Rights Council has called for global action for years, including reparations, apologies, and educational reforms to make amends for racism against people of African descent. The 15-nation Caribbean Community, known as CARICOM, has a 10-point plan for reparatory justice, starting with demands for European countries where enslaved people were kept and traded to issue formal apologies. Advertisement Türk noted a European Union statement in 2023 profoundly regretting the 'untold suffering' caused by the trans-Atlantic slave trade and the African Union's designation of 2025 as the 'Year of Justice for Africans and People of African Descent Through Reparations.' At the meeting of descendants of enslaved people and slave owners on Tuesday, Trevelyan spoke of her family's decision to apologize to Grenada and to make a contribution of 100,000 British pounds (about $133,000) toward education in the Caribbean island nation. Going to Grenada with family and apologizing 'wasn't exactly smooth sailing,' said Trevelyan, who left the BBC and has become a campaigner for reparations. There were protests by one group that thought the apology was inadequate and the money not enough. Also at the meeting was Aidee Walker, who said she was shocked when a DNA test revealed she was not only predominantly Scots-Irish but also part Nigerian, then discovered that her great-great-great-grandfather, who moved to New Zealand, was the son of a slave owner in Jamaica named John Malcolm and an African housekeeper. Walker and her sister, Kate Thomas, said when they found out they felt they had to do something. Thomas said she discovered what Trevelyan was doing and got in touch with Verene Shepherd, a professor emeritus and vice chair of the CARICOM reparations commission, who encouraged the sisters to start with the apology. Charles Gladstone, meanwhile, said he felt 'a profound sense of guilt' after learning that former prime minister Gladstone's father owned estates with enslaved people — and that a great deal of his privileged life 'was essentially connected to this criminal past.' Advertisement He said he apologized to Guyana and Jamaica and will try to do something 'to make the world a better place.' While Britain's deputy U.N. ambassador, James Kariuki, attended the meeting but did not speak. The British Mission, asked for a comment, sent a statement from Development Minister Anneliese Dodds to Parliament on Feb. 25 saying she and Prime Minister Keir Starmer have been 'absolutely clear that we will not be making cash transfers and payments to the Caribbean.' Gladstone said supporters of reparations must keep working together. If thousands of families like his stand up and say, "'We would like to do something about this,' then there is a chance that the government in Britain could do something more substantial," he said. Thomas agreed. 'If we can get the numbers, then that could influence institutions and governments to act,' she said. 'It's a really great start to what I think will be a lifelong journey." Shepherd, who taught at the University of the West Indies, said there have not been many apologies and, while some Europeans express remorse or regret for slavery, 'no one is talking about reparations.' Arley Gill, chairman of Grenada's National Reparations Commission, said, however, he sees positive movement toward reparative justice globally and believes 'we are on a good path to ensure these crimes against humanity are being recognized by the colonial powers.' Advertisement Antigua's UN ambassador, Walton Webson, who is chair of the Caribbean ambassadors' caucus, ended the meeting by saying, 'We have reached the point where speaking of reparations is no longer taboo.' Now, he said, it's time to put reparations 'on the lips of every child, every person' and start to take action.
